The Padded Room
by Humane
Summary: Six teenagers find themselves in unimaginable predicaments. Friendships will be built trust will be lost. . The predicaments the characters find themselves in are seemingly impossible. The Fallout Universe is full of factions, raiders and wasteland creeps, but no amount of devastation can live up to the pain these teens will go through in order to survive.
1. Chapter 1, Making Friends

**The Padded Room**

Chapter 1, Making Friends

**Authors Note: I hope to keep this as a short story. With a minimum of five chapters. Please read and review. Thanks! It's summer vacation so I've had a ton of time to write!**

Darkness, absolute darkness. After awaking Orion knew something was wrong. Instead of waking up in his soft delicate bed, he awoke to a massive headache, a cold and the feeling of something breathing down his shirt.

His brain was chaotic as a result his nerves were constantly reacting, endorsing the pain rampaging through his young body. He sat up letting something fall to the floor adjusting his back to the wall.

"Alright Orion what did you get yourself into now?"

The young 15 year old boy was in a situation like no other. He was used to waking up to caring parents eating breakfast and heading off to the vault academy. He was used to the simple tasks of completing homework assignments, dealing with meaningless drama and going to sleep at night just to repeat the process.

Yet here is was in the darkness. A patted room with not even an ounce of light. Orion figured revenge wasn't the reason for this, so he started to consider other possibilities. Orion never made anyone angry. He had friends but no one close. They were all just aquatinted so to speak. Orion understood a great deal that there would be absolutely no one who would want to hurt him.

He was a smart boy, definitely above your average student. However not even the smartest of minds would be able to conceive his dilemma.

"Okay there's two explanations for this." Orion said out loud.

This is a prank, that's all it is. A prank that my parents and the Overseer are trying to pull. They know I scare easy.

Or this could be something much, much worse. On the other hand this may not be a prank, but it's some sort of sick weirdo's way of getting off, and I'm his unfortunate victim.

All of this reminded me of a war story my mother told me, what was it? I can't remember. One of the Chinese generals went by the name of Naturalist, and he would put American soldiers in to these games where they'd be forced to do gruesome things.

Orion quenched up. Just the thought of that made his stomach uneasy.

Just then there was an enormous change in setting. Light illuminated the entire room. It was then that every ounce of hope tarnished. He realized there were no doors in the patted room, none at all. He was stuck like a dog on a leash. Orion took note that the room he was in was much bigger than he expected. Well big enough to do cartwheels anyway. What stood out the most wasn't the size of the room, or the fact that there were no doors. There was a quiet looking girl sound asleep right next to him.

As typical human nature he immediately judged her appearance. She was dark skinned with long legs and exquisite black hair. Orion thought she looked pretty. He never really paid attention to girls in his vault. Orion thought they were annoying and were a nuisance. He decided a long time ago that if he wanted a girlfriend he'd get one. However despite the personal ideology he'd been following for the past year there was something about this girl that was different. The boy wasn't very social, not to mention he's been in the same vault his entire life so he's been stuck with the same people. He's never seen her before, not at school or anywhere else and that's what he found unique about her. Ignoring his impending crush he also understood that she was a vital resource. Once she'd wake up Orion would have to ask her some questions.

Just to be safe Orion moved to the other side of the room and began to utilize his deduction skills.

Stella hadn't slept as well as she had in ages. She sat up with a yawn. Before opening her eyes to a completely different scenario. She was in a room, that much was certain but she didn't know whose room exactly. The previous night Stella spent outside under a destroyed overpass because of an argument she had with her mother. Her mother constantly accused her of hiding food, and told her that she wasn't worth the skin on her body. Despite the fact that Stella was a brilliant girl who provided most of the food for their family, not only that but she was a skilled orator. More than once she'd convinced raiders to leave her and her family alone. Stella thought she was a decent contributor to her family. Her mother however didn't. The fights were periodic happening every other day until she finally snapped. Stella told her she was a drunk, and that she'd accomplished more things in her 14 years, than her mother had in her entire life.

Stella remembered those cold dark eyes staring back at her before being threatened with a gun in hand. She didn't have time to gather supplies as bullets whizzed passed her out the door.

"Where am I?"

Stella stared at the ceiling before hearing an unfamiliar voice.

"Hi umm, are you okay?" The voice said in a caring tone.

Stella stopped gazing at the ceiling and snapped back to reality. She turned towards the voice and analyzed the speaker.

The boy was fairly thin, light skin, tall and he had wavy blonde hair.

Completely ignoring his question she asked her own.

"Where the hell am I?" she asked annoyed.

"I've been asking myself the same question, and honestly I don't know. I was hoping you'd have an"

Stella interrupted him.

"Have a what? I'm stuck in the same situation you are. Why would I have any idea what's going on? For all I know we could be in an enclave base deep underground. Jesus why do you ask stupid questions?"

Acknowledging the silence, and feeling a little sympathetic she continued.

"What's your name?" Stella said with a dull I don't give a shit tone in her voice.

The boy gave her a mean look but spoke up.

"Orion, you know like the constellation. What about you, what's your name?"

She hesitated before continuing.

"Stella…Like the constellation."

Orion was debating on whether or not he had the capability to strangle Stella. In the end he decided against it. Reason being he was a pacifist. He wasn't the kind of person to get into fights, and whenever he did he just took it. Whenever Orion was mad at someone he just let the anger build up and over time it would ease itself back down.

Stella was pacing back and forth in the room, she was angry and Orion noticed this, but he needed answers. So he was persistent.

"Stella is there anyone you know who would want to put you in this situation?"

Stella stopped walking and stared at Orion who intern was preparing for the barrage of words he thought were heading his way.

"You mean is there anyone I know who would go through the trouble to lock me up in a patted room with no doors and with a guy I've never seen before? No there isn't." Stella snapped back.

"Well that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Orion whispered.

"Listen Stella I haven't been sitting here doing nothing I've been trying to figure things out."

"Please enlighten me Stella said."

Orion stood up and began to pace the room as well.

"First of all where's the light?"

"What?" Stella asked. A confused look on her face.

"Before you woke up I was sitting in darkness, but then the lights came on. I have a question Stella what is the source of the light? I don't see a bulb anywhere."

Stella was silent.

"Secondly, the intention of whoever put us here is to kill us. That has to be an assumption. Why would people throw us in a patted room without food, water, or even a bathroom?" We are going to starve to death. It's only a matter of time before that happens."

"The last point I want to make is that there is no door. So Stella how the hell did we get in here in the first place?"

Before Stella could reply the world around them changed. They were no longer in a patted room, but they were in a metal one. There was a single bed, a short rectangular dispenser on the wall that said "food" and in the far back was another room with a toilet and shower.

"**What the fuck Stella said." And then the lights went off.**


	2. Chapter 2, A New System

**Chapter 2, a New System**

**Authors Note: We'll pick back up with Orion and Stella later in another chapter. For now…**

Ann woke up to absolute horror. She was covered in blood and her entire body was strapped to a chair. The room was black and dusty with hardly any light. There was a metal door a few feet away from her. She could only move her head, but just barely as she was drifting in and out of consciousness. Ann remembered a life out in the wasteland. A life so unbearable that the situation she was in now was nothing compared to the ones she faced outside. Ann was a beggar and there was almost no limit to the things she'd do for food and a place to stay. She'd never killed anyone but she found herself more than once in trouble so deep that it was a miracle she didn't end up dead.

Her parents were murdered by raiders and her sister was kidnapped and sold as a sex slave. Her life was a bad one and she more than once wanted to commit suicide. It's not that she couldn't pull the trigger it's just that she didn't have a trigger to pull. Ann knew how to use a gun but she didn't have one. The only gun their family had was 10 mill and that disappeared after the raiders got done mutilating their bodies.

Ann decided she accepted her fate. No more running, no more begging for food. If someone really wanted to kill her she wanted them to do it quickly because she was getting bored, and the chair was very uncomfortable. She decided that God would be merciful and let her die in her sleep, and so she slept.

Justin had no idea what the hell was going on. He woke up to loud and gruesome sounds coming from somewhere. He only had a second to react before he saw them. There were dozens of rotten bone filled creatures in front of him and with no way out or any sense of where he was he simply ran down the opposite side of the hallway. The sounds got louder and louder at least so he thought, but that didn't stop him from running. Justin was used to it. He was on his high school track team. He ran the 400, 800, and even some of the relays. He was a valuable player. Though he didn't think too much of it. He wasn't too much into sports that he would be considered a jock to other students. He was actually a nerd if anything.

He spent most of his time in class reading because he was usually the first to complete his assignments so the teachers never complained. He had a pretty decent life excluding what went on at home. Justin was raised by a single mother dealing with medical problems like anxiety and depression. His mother drank a lot and was rarely home. He picked up a few of those traits, depression and anxiety. Not only that but he smoked weed, a lot of weed. Justin was extremely smart and had memorized all the dates and times track members would have drug tests he'd always remembered what months were okay to smoke, and what months weren't.

Justin must have been running for a long time because he was getting tiered. He considered slowing down but only before he felt a fiery burst of pain shoot through his back.

They're catching up, Justin thought and that's all he needed. Mixed with the feel of fear, pain and adrenaline as if he was on the field and coming up on the last leg of a 400 meter run he kicked it squeezing every last bit of energy he had into an all-out sprint. It was either the stupidest thing he could have done or the smartest, but as luck was on his side a door came into view.

Please be unlocked! Justin thought as he charged towards the metal piece. He got close enough and then to no amount burst through the door, and just when he turned around to close it on those vile creatures it was gone. The hallway he ran through simply dissipated. Nothing was there but a metal wall. Relieved but stunned Justin spent at least five seconds starring at the wall before snapping back to reality.

Just to be safe Justin continued to close the door despite there being nothing behind it.

He turned around and collapsed with his back against the door. He sat there for a couple minutes trying to regain his strength.

Ann awoke to a strange tan skinned boy starring back at her. Except his eyes were closed and he was on the ground panting. Ann wanted to say something, she wanted to scream, she wanted to ask him dozens of questions, but something was very wrong. Ann attempted to speak but her voice came out in a light moan.

It was then she realized she was missing her tongue.

**Authors note: Yes it is 100% intentional the background with Justin? I think I'm starting to enjoy this. As a high school student it's difficult to stay interested in anything for a long amount of time. Hopefully this is an exception. I change my mind instead of staying small with five chapters this is going to turn into something big... Review and tell me what you guys think. It might be awhile before I get another chapter out. As small as they are I have another story I'm working on and need to get working on it.**


	3. Chapter 2B, Talk Much?

**The Padded Room**

**Chapter 2.B Talk Much?**

**Author's Note: I decided to hold off on my other fanfiction, this one seems more important right now, though I'm still working things out with the plot and I'm hoping not to disappoint you guys. Oh and to respond to one of the reviews this will be a romantic fic, just with some blood, death, hurt/comfort, depressing, what the hell is going on kind of feel. It may not look like it at first but there will be romance. As of now I'm still trying to develop the characters and that's what I'm planning to do these next few chapters.**

**Justin**

Justin opened his eyes to find a blonde headed girl with freckles starring back at him. The girl was cute if you could get past the tremendous amount of blood soaking her apparel. Usually Justin would have puked his guts out. He was disgusted by the site of blood, and even though he had literately no idea where he was Justin understood that he'd have to get over that fear quickly. What caught Justin off guard wasn't her ghastly smell, nor was it the blood soaked clothing, it was her sad emerald eyes staring back at him with such a depressing look that Justin caught a lump in his throat. He didn't know this girl but he felt sorry for her. He felt an obligation to help her, and that's what he intended to do.

For the first time since escaping the treacherous hallway Justin analyzed the rest of the room. The floor was grey and hard, and Justin was hesitant. Every side of the room was blank except the front and back witch both contained doors. The front door obviously being bewitched or something and the back door… Well Justin wasn't quite interested in what was behind that one yet.

Noticing the girl still staring at him after five minutes of idleness Justin remembered common courtesy.

"So, um do you have any idea how we got here?"

The girl's facial expression changed into a confused look.

Justin understood her body language and responded.

"Yeah that probably was a stupid question." He replied rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well hold on and I'll get you out of there"

The girl didn't change her expression just stared at him blankly.

Justin looked behind the chair and noticed her hands were tied to it using rope and it wouldn't take much to untie them. The only problem was that it was buried deep into the girl's skin and it would cause excruciating pain to the girl trying to free her.

"Alright try to keep your hands as still as possible this might hurt a little."

The girl stayed silent.

After fumbling with the knots for a couple minutes Justin managed to untie them.

**Ann**

The blonde stood up slowly and stared at her wrists. They hurt, but not too much. She then turned towards the boy who was staring at her with desperate caring eyes. A million thoughts poured into her head. "Who was this nice caring person, and why was he dressed so differently?" He can't be responsible for the mess she was in, not after saving her. Although anyone in her situation wouldn't trust him for some reason she did.

There was silence between them then Ann realized something. She stared at the boy helplessly then attempting to walk for the first time stumbled towards him. She carefully moved step by step analyzing the room, the dim lights buzzing and the feel of her bare feet touching the cold pavement, but she made it to the boy who was standing still.

She was close enough to hear is heart beat and to feel his breath. She then looked into his eyes. Ann understood that this boy had helped her and she realized then that if they were to survive then they'd have to understand each other.

Ann closed her eyes and opened her mouth not knowing what to expect. Though she didn't hear anything. He didn't respond. Ann reopened her eyes after feeling a soft touch on her shoulder. The boy stared at her and nodded.

She blushed, closed her mouth and thought to herself "That was easier than I thought" Most people would have flipped out if they saw a tongue less girl.

It was then the boys eyes grew wide and he cried

"Oh my God I can't believe I didn't do this in the first place!"

The boy pulled out some sort of device and started pressing buttons. Though she was right next to him and had a perfect view of the device she didn't quite understand what it was.

"Typical. There's no signal."

Ann was vaguely confused. She just showed the boy she had no tongue and now he was holding a rectangular device telling me everything was going to be okay. He just said there was no signal so maybe it's some sort of communication device... But even so those are practically non-existent in the wasteland so why would he have one?

She turned to her right to see the boy staring at her. She was curious but then looked at what he was holding.

"Here, it's my cell phone, I shouldn't have over reacted. I mean if they were capable of locking us in here I'm pretty sure they would know I'd try to use my cell phone.. So I think it has another purpose. Before we figure out where we are I think we should get to know each other. Oh and don't worry I turned the brightness down so the battery won't be dying any time soon."

Ann took the device carefully.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Ann thought. She looked up at the boy curiously.

He still managed a smile. "Here I'm using the notepad app it allows you to just type what you want to say, after your done just let me read it."

Ann still had no idea what that meant, but she looked down at the phone and realized it wasn't rocket science and in fact it was a pretty simple concept. She just slowly pressed the keys with her fingers.

**Justin**

Justin noticed a smile appear across her face. He then proceeded to sit down fitting his back against the wall. It was then he realized how cold he was. Justin was wearing heavy shorts and was also wearing a grey tank top witch was soaked in sweat. He felt dirty and was even more embarrassed that he was with a girl. Most girls, in fact most people would be disgusted, but not Ann she didn't seem to mind. Not that she really could I mean she was dirtier then he was and didn't seem to care about it.

Justin looked up as the blonde sat next to him and handed him the phone. He read it and it said.

"My name is Ann. What's yours?"

The track star looked at the girl with content who intern was waiting for a response.

He chuckled a little bit before talking back.

"Well Ann. My name is Justin, and I was wondering."

There was a pause

"So what were you doing before…?" His voice trailed off.

Her smile dissipated then took the phone from Justin's hand and started to type.

Justin began to say something but before he could she already had her hands out waiting for the boy to read her answer.

Justin took the phone and analyzed the letters.

"I don't want to talk about it." The phone read.

Justin stared at her for a minute and though curious Justin came to the conclusion that she didn't have to tell him anything. He wanted to stay on her good side, and if that was something she didn't want to talk about then by all means what right did he have to ask her? Even though it was vital information that could hold the answer to all their questions Justin respected her 9th amendment right to privacy.

Justin caught himself starring into deep emerald eyes witch intern were starring back at him curiously.

Justin blushed and quickly looked away.

"Sorry, I, you don't have to tell me now."

Justin stood up fighting off a terrible headache.

"As for me." Justin began.

The girl continued to listen.

"Well I don't remember how I got here, but this is what happened. You see this door?"

Justin moved towards the door facing the chair.

The girl nodded.

"Well let's open it."

As expected after opening the door nothing was evident except the blank metallic wall that matched the rest of the room.

**Ann**

Ann listened carefully as the boy continued to explain how he found her. The ghouls, the running none of it made sense. All she knew was that she woke up tied to a chair and that her tongue was missing. Nonetheless Ann honestly didn't care about any of it. She didn't care about escaping, she just didn't.

"What is it that I have to go back to?" Ann thought.

It was then a familiar voice broke her train of thought.

"Hey Ann I think it's about time we see what's behind this door. What do you think?"

**Authors Note: YES they had cell phones in the fallout universe. Though not necessarily utilized in the game they could be found in bits of trash, I mean you can't equip them or anything but they exist. Now I know there was no bizarre twist or any action happening in this chapter and I apologize for that but like I said I want to spend some time developing the characters before we dive into the juicy plotline so bear with me. I'm trying to make these characters as different and as unique as possible to keep YOU the reader entertained. Thanks for reading please leave a review telling me what you think.**

**P.S My grammar and spelling isn't the best but it's something I hope to improve on. I know inconsistent English is something that turns a lot of readers off. So if there's anyone who wouldn't mind "correcting" my chapters for me if you will and sending them back then that would be great. Of course credit would be given and your username would be listed in every chapter. Once again thanks for reading, and please leave a review. **


	4. Chapter 3, Strange Tides

**The Padded Room Chapter 3, Strange Tides**

**Authors Note: This will be the last chapter before we get back to Orion and Stella. These are two more characters I'm introducing in another very odd situation. Things are going to start getting a little more interesting around here. I've realized my chapters are WAY too small so after this chapter they'll be bigger. I'm hoping maybe 2-3 thousand words.**

**Gabriela**

There's a few words to describe Gabriela: Rich, classy, famous, elite, decisive, and even devilish. Born in the wasteland Gabriela's father always explored when he had enough to eat and clothes on his back. Always finding glorious things and bringing them to his party members it was no surprise when he found a terrifyingly huge real estate governed by enormous mansions.

Not that they weren't unscathed from the ruthlessness of the wasteland but after a decade of work Gabriela's father managed to get the place up and running and It wasn't long until people started hearing about the place and it eventually became a hot spot for people to live relax eat and socialize.

After a ton of people started moving in more houses, and even little stores for merchants started being constructed, and on top of it all living in the biggest mansion responsible for everything that went on in "The Estate" was none other than Mr. Sun his wife Marry and his new baby girl Gabriela.

Well Gabriela wasn't a new born baby anymore she was 16 years old and was your prime example of a snotty rich kid. She earned her attitude growing up alone. Her father was always busy and her mother… Well she didn't like to talk about her mother. Gabriela spent most of her time inside "The Estate" reading and learning about what once was. The girl was fascinated with the old world and would often fantasize about traveling through time just to live there.

Because of the lack of interaction with other children Gabriela developed a shy personality, however whenever she did socialize she was upfront about things and always told people what they didn't want to hear. People thought she was a jerk, but she couldn't help it because she didn't know any better.

The teenager woke to a bright blue sky and a lush yellow sun. In utter shock Gabriela tried to stand up but an unknown force pushed her back down. She sat still for a second and then she felt it, she was moving.

Gabriela was scared of the situation. She knew her dad created what seemed to be a paradise in the wasteland but that didn't stop people from wanting him dead. Running a place like "The Estate" isn't a walk in the park and so his dad's been forced to make tough decisions that some people just didn't see eye to eye with. In short people wanted him dead, and what better way to get to him than to kidnap his only child?

Before Gabriela was able to go through a rundown of anymore scenarios she heard a sneaky voice.

"So are you awake?"

Gabriela didn't respond. She slowly looked up and what she saw resulted in a painful realization. Water was everywhere, surrounding her in every possible direction. Gabriela was on a make shift raft and in front of him was a black haired boy sitting cress- cross with his arms folded.

"Who are you?" The Gabriela asked.

"You know for someone who just woke up in the middle of the ocean your pretty calm." The boy said with a smile.

Gabby stayed quiet.

"The silent type a? Listen you just woke up on a makeshift raft in the middle of nowhere with some guy you've never seen in your life, I know this sounds crazy but I need you to trust me when I say I have no idea what the hell is going on."

The boy then noticed a change in Gabriela's expression. The girl crawled silently towards the middle of the raft, tucked in her knees stared at him and still managed to keep a reclusive look.

"Not a fan of water are we?" He said.

"Have you noticed?" Gabriela said cautiously,

The boy was distraught. "Noticed what?" he replied.

Breaking her gaze she sighed.

"The water is bright blue, the sun's in the sky and everything feels…Alive.

"What do you mean?" The boy asked confused.

Gabriella stared at him with curiosity.

"It's not every day you see a blue ocean." Gabriella lowered her voice before continuing.

"Not in the wasteland anyway."

**Taylor**

Taylor was confused. He woke up to a beautiful California coast every day. The Ocean was beautiful. But something about this girl made him curious and more scared than he already was. He lived close to the beach and some nights he'd sleep there just to get away from family and high school drama.

But still the fact that this girl hasn't seen the ocean before…At least a blue one is surprising. He was curious of this girl's origin and so he began to question her.

"Hey, um what's your name?" Taylor asked

The wealthy descendant stared at him with content before responding.

"Gabriela, but just call me Gabby."

Taylor wasn't getting anywhere so he introduced himself.

"Well Gabby" He said with a yawn.

"My name's Taylor. Do you have any idea how we got here? I mean what was the last thing you remember doing?"

Gabriella paused for a second before answering the question.

"I was sleeping." She replied.

"Anything interesting I mean?" Taylor responded.

Ignoring his question Gabriella laid her head back and closed her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" The boy said angrily.

"Sleeping what does it look like?" Gabby said annoyed.

"What, you just woke up!"

Gabby raised her voice this time.

"I don't feel like wasting time theorizing about how we got here. If someone wanted us dead why build a raft? Honestly the only thing we can do is wait. And what better way to pass the time than sleeping?"

**Authors Note: This will be the last small chapter I promise. Future chapters will be involving all six characters in their given situations. This chapter is a bit rushed and I may edit it in the future. It's rushed because I'll be visiting a state called "Texas" so I thought I'd get a chapter out before I leave. **

**So what do you guys think of the six characters set up for our plotline? To generic? I don't know hope you guys are fine with them. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 4, A New Approach

**The Padded Room Chapter 4, a Strange Approach**

**Authors Note: Back from Texas and it's time to get back to writing. I won't be focusing on two characters this time around. From now on we will be focusing on all six.**

**Previously On...**

**Orion **woke up in a padded room with no idea of his location. As time passed the lights came on and it was then he realized he wasn't alone. **Stella** as uptight as she is introduced herself to Orion and as they started to figure things out the once thought to be Padded Room transformed into what seemed to be a room fit for a hotel, except without room service, a soft bed, and everything else that's nice about hotels.

In a metallic room strapped to a rusty chair was **Ann**, a teenage girl who's been fighting the wasteland since she was born. Ann didn't care much for the situation she was in because she's been through similar ones before. It was usually luck that got her out, and not so quick to leave her side luck was there again. A boy named **Justin** busted through the door and helped Ann without a second thought. When Ann attempted to speak to the boy she realized her tongue was gone. Full of sympathy and sorrow Justin comforted Ann even in the darkness they resided in. They took time and got to know each other a little before preparing to explore the rest of the complex.

Completely used to reclusiveness and dreams was **Gabriella**. An intelligent seemingly emotionless girl who woke up on a raft with nothing surrounding her except water. What surprised her was the color and the sincere beauty of the waves. It wasn't something you saw in the wasteland. A perfect opposite to Gabby was **Taylor.** An outgoing teen with honest intentions. Taylor also woke up on the raft, though not too intrigued with how he got to his location, he was still curious and wanted to figure out what happened. We last saw these two bickering about what to do about the situation. The argument ended with nap time.

**Orion & Stella**

"I think I hate you." Orion said.

"Why's that?" Stella replied.

"Because you punched me after I called dibs on the bed."

Stella and Orion both reside in another dark interior. The room was fairly big and contained supplies that seemed to last a lifetime. When they first woke up they were in a padded room. However after some bizarre incident the room magically changed into something you'd normally see in a hotel, but more dilapidated. Orion and Stella were in shock and tried to figure things out, but to no avail they decided that for whatever reason they were there they probably weren't in too much danger.

They made that assumption after recognizing a small hole across the room from the bed. It was conveniently labeled "food" and was unavoidable. Stella was the first to spot it, and when she did the first thought to come to her mind was to crawl through it. But of course it was too small when peering through the hole it seemed to stretch out to infinity. Nothing was visible, only darkness, after seeing that their confidence bewildered.

It was late, at least it seemed that way. The lights without source were off Stella lay comfortably on the bed, and Orion on the floor a couple feet away from her.

"Did you honestly expect me to sleep on the ground?" Stella asked angrily.

The boy took a deep breath. He was angry but he understood that both of them were going to have to work together and hopefully build a friendship with each other. That's what he wanted anyway.

"No I guess I didn't." Orion replied.

The Vault dweller would twist and turn throughout the night, lost in deep thought Orion thought about his home in the vault and although it was boring and achromatic he missed his family, as well as his morning routine. He always wanted to get out of the vault, but not like this. He understood that the darkness would shield him from any embarrassment and so he began to sob quietly before finally falling asleep.

Unlike Orion Stella received no sleep that night. It was only a couple days ago her mother was trying to kill her. Her mother's cold unforgiving eyes and the barrel of a gun pointed at her head. Those images replaying over and over in her mind were demoralizing. There was no love for her anywhere from anyone.

She pulled the covers up over her head and sunk deeper into her depression. She didn't cry but she did have a realization. The poor girl knew she was hard headed. But what would you expect from a teenager who's been growing up with a heartless mother?

Stella didn't know why but she stood up grabbed her blanket and made her way to Orion. The boy was asleep curled up in a ball and looked anything but comfortable. The broken girl reached down and felt his hand. It was ice cold. It was then she gently laid the blanket on top of him before heading back to her bed.

Stella would lie there all night pondering her existence and whether or not it was worth living.

It was a long time but eventually a light illuminated the room. Strangely it was only then her eyes were able to close.

**Ann & Justin**

Justin gave a long look at Ann before opening the back door. The two teens stared into absolute darkness. The track star was scared and very cautious about immersing himself into the unknown. Justin took a deep breath before feeling a hand cradle his arm. He turned around to notice emerald eyes glaring at him. Justin felt reassured. He was reminded that he wasn't doing this alone. He looked at her and nodded then focused his glaze back into the darkness.

"Listen, we could get lost in there. If something happens use the phone as a light, nothing else though we don't want to waste the battery."

Ann released her grip and took the phone. She looked at it with content and was still meaning to ask the boy where he got it but she knew now wouldn't be the time. She looked back up to see the boy holding out his hand. He was blushing.

"You know just so we don't umm loose each other, or get split up."

The girl wanted to snicker at the boy's embarrassment but she couldn't imagine walking through that door alone so she took his hand.

The teens carefully made their way through the dark abyss. Careful as ever it didn't take very long for them to notice the strange surroundings. After the teens went through the door the first thing brought to their attention was that they weren't in a hallway. The door brought them to an amazingly huge room that seemed to be without walls. After about five minutes of walking the door they followed through was no longer in sight, and to make matters worse there was a sudden drop in temperature making the blackness just a little more unbearable. As they walked a feeling of deep nostalgia and fear crept into their minds.

Step after step Justin moved and Ann followed, moving in almost a pattern. Justin kept his eyes focused on…something or maybe it was nothing as all he could see was black. But again feeling the girls hand on his reassured him and made the boy feel safe. So it was only when he felt a tight pull and short cry that he started to panic. He immediately turned around to find Ann holding up the phone a bright light illuminating off the screen.

Without having to ask her Ann quickly navigated herself to the note app and began to type. Justin was scared and began to worry as to what exactly she was worried about. It felt like hours watching her put the words on the screen. When the girl finished she quickly gave the phone to Justin who read the words carefully.

"I felt something grab me."

Justin read the words over and over before looking up at Ann. It wasn't a moment later before those soft beautiful emerald eyes Justin was accustomed to seeing simply disappeared into darkness.

Being pulled back uncontrollably back to the floor Ann wanted to scream, to give Justin some sort of idea which direction she was being taken. The girl tried to reach around her front trying to get some idea of her attacker.

And that's when things got paranormal. There was no attacker she was being dragged by what seemed to be an entity. The only thing she thought of doing was to kick the ground as hard as she could.

"Maybe he'll hear me" she thought.

She kicked with all her might. She was being dragged for at least five minutes but then she stopped. Everything stopped. Nothing was dragging her. She quickly stood up and hoped that Justin would eventually find her. She started to debate on either staying in the same location where that "thing" could still get to her, or to move but risk getting even more lost in the abyss. Before she could make a decision a giant screen appeared in front of her it was tremendously huge and at least twice the size of what you'd see in a movie theater. Ann didn't know what to expect so she just stood there waiting for something to happen. Something did happen; at the very top of left corner of the screen were words in bold titled **"Channel" **and the screen began to flicker and showcase a compilation of different videos. Each time a video was shown the "Channel" would change.

The first video shown was channel one and the screen showcased a boy running from a pack of ghouls before breaking through a door to meet a girl strapped to a chair. It didn't take long for her to understand it was her and Justin the video was showcasing. On top of that though it wasn't the video itself that surprised her but it was also the deep embodied chant that seemed to follow it. It was a mixture of what sounded like screams and torture as well as a church chorus singing in slow motion. The quality of the video was scratchy and looked like something very sinister. The videos rolled on. The channel now changed to two and showcased a boy and girl laying in what looked to be padded room. The videos now picked up the pace and changed more frequently. Ann didn't pick up much but channel three was a couple kids on a raft, channel four featured two kids on the roof of a building fighting off a pack of ghouls. Random flashes of different channels continued until channel 25 which is when the video slowed down and really focused on a couple. It showed a blonde headed boy holding a giant rock he then looked directly into the camera before smashing into another boy's face who was intern lying helplessly on the floor.

Ann was in absolute horror as the clips then repeated there selves over and over again. She stood there trying to make out what was going on. It was at least ten minutes before she heard a familiar voice.

"Ann what happened, are you okay?"

The girl turned to see Justin jogging towards her location the light from the screen flickering and illuminating his body. She noticed the boy was fixated on the videos. He stopped next to her and watched the videos being played over and over and over again. After at least 10 minutes on a loop the videos stopped playing and the gigantic aberration of a T.V began to shrink. It made a small rectangular shape before finally it began to mold itself into a door.

Without speaking Ann took Justin's hand and began making her way towards the abomination.

**Gabby & Taylor**

Gabby awoke to a beautiful night sky.

"I never would have thought I'd be lucky enough to witness something so peaceful." Gabby thought.

The girl would lie there for a couple minutes before realizing she was hungry. She sat up and that's when she noticed a giant ship overhead. It was in perfect sync with the raft moving as if it was coordinated. The moonlight illuminated most of it, the ship sat almost a few feet away from the raft and a latter was suspended into the water as if it were meant for them to climb it. In utter surprise Ann almost fell off. She looked across the raft to see Taylor sleeping peacefully. Seeing no other way to wake him up she reached her hand into the ocean and splashed a ton of water onto his face.

Taylor awoke startled and of course angry.

"Hey what the hell was that...Whoa."

The boy was in complete awe starring at the ship.

"What should we do?" The boy asked wiping water off his forehead.

"What else, we explore." Gabby replied.

Taylor was a bit cautious.

"Hey we don't even know where this thing came from are you sure that's a good idea?"

The sightseer ignored him and began to make her way up the ladder.

"Why do I even bother?" Taylor whispered as he followed the girl onto the ship.

He reached the top only to find Gabby standing in a pool of blood. The deck was littered with bits of flesh and other ghastly parts it was then they realized the real scale of the ship they were on. It was like a cruise ship, but bigger. It was tremendous, the size of the boat seemed out of the ordinary. Although the area of the ship wasn't something they should be concerned about.

Taylor stepped towards Gabby noticing the maroon liquid seeping off the ship. It was only noticeable because of the dingy moonlight that rendered the deck visible.

"Still want to explore?" Taylor asked with sarcastically.

"I have a plan." She replied.

"First we clean this place up. To tell the truth I have no interest in what's happened here, but if we can't find any survivors than this ship is ours. While we clean I suggest we dig up some information as to where this ship came from there's bound to be something interesting."

Gabriella paused and looked at Taylor.

"But before we do any of that I say we grab a bite to eat." Sound good?

Taylor was shocked not at the girls intelligence but at her ignorance.

"Gabby you can't be serious. We wake on a raft without any knowledge of how we got there, then after a few more hours of sleep we wake up to another dilemma where a giant ship just so happens to appear right next to us, and to make matters worse it's filled with blood and their isn't anyone on board. Are you sure you want to do this?"

The teen thought carefully for a moment before responding.

"I don't think we have a choice."

**Authors Note: Finally it is here! I actually decided to sit down and type up this chapter. Things are heating up finally and bits and pieces are starting to come together. Okay not really I don't plan on really explaining what's happening to all of our characters for a long time. So that leaves you the readers to theorize what's actually taking place.**

**Also a few things I want to point out. Some would say that this fanfiction doesn't necessarily fit the Fallout Universe and that my story is having less and less to do with Fallout. It is, and will continue so for a little bit, but I promise this story wouldn't work if it was not Fallout oriented.**

**Also there may be a few plot holes and mixes ups etc. Don't worry they will be tied thoroughly and if you think it's something I actually missed than please tell me about it.**

**While creating these characters I've tried to make it so people can relate to them. Not that most people can relate to living in a post apocalyptic world but still. I want your opinions, which character do you guys like the most? What do you think I should do to improve the story? More action less angst, more romance, less mystery or is it fine the way it is? Thanks for reading I'm anxious to read what you have to say.**


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